Back Pain - one exercise brings relief

A remarkable treatment for back pain, slipped disc, lumbago, what you will. I have recovered from a severe prolapsed disc, after weeks of intense pain, in just a week of this treatment: just one simple, cost-free exercise, in a couple of minutes.
This may seem off-topic but it relates to hormesis, as we shall see – and is a major health benefit for all.
In summary, after thousands of hours of research, it turns out that amongst all of the physical characteristics measured, the endurance of the back-extensor (erector-spinae) muscles has the highest association with low-back pain. Strengthen the endurance of the back-extensors and you can help eliminate the risk of pain. Note this is about endurance, not strength per se: it is about the endurance of the muscles in the erect posture that we assume naturally, day-today.
So how can we increase the endurance?
This the exercise, simply lie prone (face down) on glute-ham machine, with your legs wedged under the leg support, hips on then pads, and hold a position so that your torso is unsupported and your whole body is in a straight line, parallel to the ground. It’s as if you were standing erect, but you’re body is actually at a 90 degree angle, parallel to the floor.
If you don’t have a glute/ham then use a table or other flat surface with the tops of your hips at the edge of the table – so that your legs are supported and your torso extends over the edge of the surface into empty space. The tension should be in your lower back muscles.
Keep your hands at your sides or crossed over your chest and have someone hold your feet down, and simply maintain your torso in a horizontal position, parallel with the ground and on the same level as the table top, for as long as possible.
Maintain this position for as long as you can, until you find your torso slowly lowering as your muscles tire. Men should aim for around 90 seconds, women for 60. Repeat daily, just once.
It works because you are stressing the back-extensor (erector-spinae) muscles directly, and so strengthening their endurance, but without imposing a commensurate level of downward pressure on your spine and the nerves and discs involved.
The relevance to hormesis is that the exercise represents a stressor, when performed to failure – with all the associated benefits.
You’ll also want to balance your abdominal strength with this exercise: on all fours, suck in your belly button and bring is as close to your spine as possible. Hold the position for as long as you can, and continue to breath of course.
See the excellent Sports Injury Bulletin here with details of the back exercise and source references in an article by Owen Anderson: see Sports Injury Bulletin.
Last word to author Owen Anderson: he explains as follows:-
“Well, there probably is a link between isometric endurance and endurance of the concentric and eccentric kinds. In addition, for much sporting activity the function of the spinal muscles is to keep the torso stable (think of long-distance runners, Michael Johnson sprinting, Tour de France cyclists, footballers surging toward the ball, basketball players getting ready to get off a shot, etc.). All of these actions are isometric in nature and certainly require the spinal muscles to ‘hold their positions’ for extended periods of time. An inability to maintain a safe position for the spine – as a result of spinal-muscle fatigue – may in fact predispose the back to small-scale injuries and the near-inevitability of low-back pain.”